I was the lead in-house graphic designer on the American Museum of Natural History's largest capital project in 20 years, the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. After an early design phase by RAA, Eleanor Kung and I defined the visual language for the Collections Core. I designed and produced half of the individual graphics in this hall. I did lots of my own photo research, illustration, and project management.
Design team:
Catharine Weese, Art Director
Antonia Gabor, Production Manager
Eleanor Kung, Graphic Designer
Ralph Applebaum Associates, Exhibit Design
Catharine Weese, Art Director
Antonia Gabor, Production Manager
Eleanor Kung, Graphic Designer
Ralph Applebaum Associates, Exhibit Design
Gold 2024 Hermes Creative Award winner
The Collections Core is a three-story open-storage exhibition, offering a glimpse into the vast collections that the museum usually keeps off display. Each case corresponds to a department within the museum, and the subject matter varies greatly. While the glass graphics ask high-level questions about how scientists learn from these objects, the graphic rails dive deeper. When there is so much to say about a display, hierarchy becomes extra important—our design system sought to make these stories easy to digest at any level. We answered the most basic question of "what is this" in a solid block of color at the beginning of each deck. In another bold callout viewers are invited to engage with the exhibit by looking closely at the objects in front of them to answer a question.
Photos courtesy of Cody Powers